Bird Lira - the master of imitation

The great bird of the lyre is an amazing creature, the birthplace of which is New South Wales. The main color of her feathers is brownish-gray. Nadhvoste has a reddish tide. The goiter and chin are red, the lower part of the body is ash-brown, and the abdomen is slightly lighter. Flight feathers and extreme tail feathers are brownish-red. Tail from below is gray-silver, from above brown-black. The extreme dark gray tail feathers are lyre-shaped. Tail middle feathers of gray color, the rest - black. The body length of the male is approximately 130 centimeters. The female is smaller, its feathers are dirty-brown in color. Young males of the lyrebird are similar in color to females.

The bird-lira (photo below) prefers thick bushes in a rocky terrain. He spends most of his life on the ground, flying very rarely. With active fast running, the bird lyrebird resembles a pheasant. In order not to spoil your beautiful tail, it keeps it in a horizontal position.

The bird-lira shows the greatest activity in the evening and in the morning, but during breeding they can be seen at noon. The males rake the mounds from the ground, then sit on them, raise their tail up and beautifully dismiss it. In addition, they express their feelings with the most incredible sounds. The singing of lyrebirds living in different localities is different. They copy the voices of many birds, as well as some other sounds - the knock of an ax, human laughter, the sound of a saw or alarm.

One of the scientists, dedicated to studying these creatures, says that the lira bird has an incredible gift of imitation. As an example, he cites the following case. In Gipsland, near the southern slope of the Alps of Australia, there is a sawmill. On holidays or weekends, when there is no one around, you can hear the barking of a dog, the sound of a saw, human laughter and the singing of different birds. All these sounds are produced by a bird-lira. The passion for imitation increases many times during the breeding season.

With other animals and birds, the lyrebird behaves cautiously, the person avoids. The lira bird feeds mainly on worms and insects. Most of the food the northern lira extracts, digging in the ground. If necessary, when searching for food, she can move a stone weighing up to four kilograms.

According to different observations, the breeding season for some lyrebirds begins in August, and for others in May. The bird-lira builds a large and elongated nest resembling an egg in its shape. It has a roof, its length reaches 60 centimeters, width - 30. In the nest there is a lateral opening, which serves to enter inside. The house itself was built carelessly. But in reality it is very durable and sometimes serves its tenants for several years. The bird-lira displays the chicks once a year and puts only one single egg the size of a duck. Its width is about 4 centimeters, and its length is about 6. The female incubates an egg one. The male lyre does not feed and does not visit it, therefore at noon the female lyrebird must leave its future offspring. Returning, she crawls in, erasing her feathers. It is for them to find out how long a female hatches an egg. The nestling leaves the nest after about 8-11 weeks.

People who observed the bird-lyrebird say that she is very shy. The slightest rustle, the fall of a branch, the slightest noise make the lyre go to flight.